ALBUM REVIEW: ZAN/CODY – Beautiful ‘N Damned

Back then, Shotgun Messiah were true chameleons. Their self-titled debut remains one of the greatest sleaze rock albums ever made, arriving before Swedish sleaze was even a recognised movement. It was glamorous, dangerous, hook-laden and effortlessly cool. Then, in 1990, everything changed. Zinny Zan departed, Tim Sköld stepped behind the microphone, and the band transformed into something altogether darker and heavier. Second Coming and Violent New Breed weren’t just great records—they were genuinely forward-thinking albums that pushed boundaries. Sadly while much of the music press was busy falling over themselves praising whatever fashionable new scene had come along Shotgun Messiah was just better. History is far kinder to those records than many critics were at the time.

Since then we’ve had near reunions, false starts and enough rumours to fill an autobiography. Zan and Stixx returned under the Shotgun banner, there were whispers of the original line-up reuniting, talks collapsed, fingers were pointed, and just when most of us had resigned ourselves to thinking it would never happen, Cody and Zan began making music together again.

Nobody really saw this coming.

I’ll admit I was nervous dropping the needle on Beautiful ‘N Damned.

Maybe that’s because one song has haunted me for decades. I’m Your Love isn’t just my favourite Shotgun Messiah track—it’s one of my twenty favourite songs of all time. That’s a lofty benchmark for anyone to measure up against, especially the people who wrote it in the first place.

Thankfully, this isn’t an exercise in nostalgia.

What immediately strikes you is just how natural this partnership feels. Zinny Zan hasn’t lost that unmistakable voice. There’s still that swagger, that grit and that melodic edge that made him such an instantly recognisable frontman in the late ’80s. Age has perhaps added a little more character, but none of the fire has disappeared.

Alongside him, Cody delivers exactly what longtime fans would hope for. His guitar playing has always balanced melody with bite, and that’s exactly what happens here. The riffs are muscular without becoming clichéd, the solos serve the songs rather than simply showing off, and the whole record carries the confidence of musicians who know exactly who they are.

Crucially, Beautiful ‘N Damned doesn’t try to recreate Shotgun Messiah or Welcome to Bop City. That would have been the easiest route to take—and probably the least satisfying. Instead, this sounds like the logical continuation of two musicians who’ve spent decades growing separately before finding each other again. You can hear echoes of the past throughout the album, but they’re woven into songs that stand comfortably on their own.

There’s plenty of attitude here, naturally, but there’s also maturity. The hooks remain huge, the choruses stick after only a couple of plays, and beneath the leather jackets and attitude lies some genuinely thoughtful songwriting. It never feels forced, and perhaps that’s the album’s greatest achievement. This doesn’t sound like two veterans trying to relive former glories—it sounds like two musicians enjoying making music together again.

There an immediately darker feel to opener ‘Sever’ an industrial vibe, this isn’t the 80’s anymore Toto but the huge chorus is still there and Zan sounds great in what I guess is more akin to what Shotgun Messiah became after he left. I’, so glad to hear that solos aren’t dead either and there’s a great one here. There’s almost a 90’s Sisters of Mercy vibe too. So far so good!

If you’re looking for a wonderfully titled song surely ‘I Am The Shit’ has to be the best title of the year. It’s lighter, almost feel good with a huge guitar and wonderful vibe and backing vocals. This one just made me beam from ear to ear, like the 80’s transported to the modern day. I fell in love at first play with that faux live vibe to the infectious drum beat to the spoken word section. This is sheer chemistry!

Three in ‘Ride Or Die’ is making me think this could well be the album of the year. The riff is perfect the vibe is spot on and the refrain is so damned infectious. Sometimes you wait and wait for something and it disappoints but sometimes it exceeds expectations, occasionally you get lightning in the bottle. To me this sounds like the album that is the equivalent of the jump The Cult made between ‘Love’ and ‘Electric’ (for a minute forgetting the Zan-less records)..

Then comes ‘Suffer City’ a slow building gems that strips it all back blows you away. This is already a helluva album 4 songs in…

‘She Walks With Violence’ that follows starts with a Bluesy wail and techno rumble with an almost spoken word intro before it morphs onto a Gothic soundscape that takes off the pace and keeps it off failing to explode like you imagine it might at any time, and that is very much part of its charm.

‘Damn’ conversely is all about the guitars and the driving groove: a real 80’s tinged sleazy classic. And the dreamy-infused mid tempo ‘Let’s Be Heroes’ is another that hots the nail on the head with its cheeky Bowie references and feel. For me they are two real standouts amongt an already solid record.

‘Beautiful ‘N Damned’ the Title track is another glimmering Gothic-edged powerhouse of a song. This is a darker, more beautifully produced reunion than I’d imagined. Like a dystopian Shotgun Messiah, gloriously dark, more conscious and utterely memorable.

The album rounds out with the Bluesy guitar and stomp of ‘Bad Bad Man’

Closer ‘Tear It All Down’ is another which captures that gloriously sleazy 80’s feel and another class act. What a performance, and what an album.

The production here helps enormously. Everything sounds warm, powerful and organic. The guitars have real weight, the rhythm section drives every song forward, and Zan sits perfectly in the mix without ever losing that distinctive rasp that first grabbed our attention all those years ago.

For fans who’ve followed every twist in the Shotgun Messiah story, Beautiful ‘N Damned feels strangely emotional. Not because it’s trying to be, but because simply hearing these two creating together again is something many of us genuinely thought we’d never experience.

More importantly, it succeeds on its own merits.

This isn’t merely a footnote in the Shotgun Messiah story or an interesting side project. It’s a genuinely strong hard rock record full of memorable songs, confident performances and enough quality to stand proudly alongside the best work either musician has released outside the band.

If this really is the spark that finally leads to the long-rumoured Shotgun Messiah reunion, then the future suddenly looks incredibly exciting.

If it isn’t?

Then Beautiful ‘N Damned is still one of the best albums you will hear all year…

After decades of waiting, Zinny Zan and Cody have reminded us exactly why we fell in love with them in the first place.

UNVEIL FIRST SINGLE “DAMN” WATCH THE VIDEO HERE